High school students from four Burdekin schools have been equipped with potentially lifesaving tools following the delivery of Road Safety Education Limited’s RYDA (Rotary Youth Driver Awareness) workshop last Friday, March 15.
The program included a full day workshop of six practical, interactive and powerful sessions about road safety for students at Burdekin Catholic High School, Home Hill State High School, Burdekin Christian College and Burdekin Educational Engagement Program, delivered at the Burdekin TAFE Campus.
RYDA Coordinator for the Burdekin Tony Goddard said the program lays the foundation for safe road use throughout their lives and challenges students to think about the role they play in road safety.
“It gives people an awareness of what can go wrong when driving a motor vehicle for the first time,” he said.
“That’s why we’re targeting drivers that are either about to get their Learner’s or are on their Learner’s or maybe they’ve already progressed onto their Provisional license.
“I think there’s been a dramatic decrease in the number of road crashes on our roads … so we hope the program’s working and the message is getting across.”
The program was coordinated by local Rotary clubs, with up to 12 volunteers from Ayr and Home Hill Rotary Clubs assisting on the day.
Sessions were delivered by driving instructors, teachers, police officers, Rotary volunteers and crash victims, with a particularly impactful session coming from guest speakers Lorna and Raymond Abde.
Raymond was left with a brain injury and years of intensive rehabilitation after an incident on May 15, 1998, just nine days shy of his 18th birthday.
Since then, he and his mother, Lorna, have advocated for road safety at events across north Queensland.
“Raymond was a similar age to the students when he had his accident and you can see that the students connect with that while also getting a better understanding of what can happen as a result of road accidents,” said Member for Burdekin Dale Last, who was a police officer based in Charters Towers at the time of the incident and was one of the first on the scene.
“The RYDA Program encourages young people to take a more responsible attitude and Raymond’s story definitely helps in sharing that message.”
Caption: Guest speakers Lorna and Raymond Abde with RYDA Coordinator Tony Goddard
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